A Vegan in Paris--La Salade de les Haricots Verte, l'Aubergine et la Courgette (Salad of Green Beans, Eggplant and Zucchini)

Vegetarian salads are plentiful in Paris and I enjoyed my share of these big, fresh, beautiful and fresh creations, always with a little unexpected twist.

For lunch one day at an outdoor cafe on the quiet Isle St. Louis, I ordered this towering salad. Mounded atop a bed of greens was a nice size portion of the ultra-thin French green beans, perfectly cooked and lightly dressed. Wrapped around the exterior forming a kind of turban was strips of cooked eggplant and zucchini. Crowning the top of the masterpiece was a little mushroom cap filled with cheese which I plucked off for my husband. Surrounding the base, as you can see, was tomato wedges, black olives and marinated artichoke hearts.

Sadly, this will probably be my last Parisian post, as I do believe that I have shared all of the food from our anniversary trip for which I have accompanying photos unless, of course, you are interested in my husband's escargot, roast beast or creme brulee. :)